The Point of No Return
by LillyAngel
Summary: Oneshot: Two former lovers reunite only to discover that the ones they once knew changed... LVMM


So yeah. Two years of working on this little one-shot (God, yes, I am a complete loser) and I finally worked out an ending for it. So here's a little bit of pre-Deathly Hallows fiction for all you fans out there... For the record, this fic is best read while listening to The Point of No Return, from the Phantom of the Opera...Enjoy!!!

**Warnings:** Character death, and the closest I'll ever get to writing smut...

**Disclaimer:** Honestly, I don't own Harry Potter...

**The Point of No Return**

She knew it was wrong. She knew she shouldn't be here. Yet here she was, after traveling non-stop for a day, in front of the main gates of the Riddle manor.

Shivering, she pulled her emerald cloak tighter around her as she waited. Finally, after what had seemed like an eternity, the gates slowly creaked open. She hurried along the leaf-strewn path to the front door. She stopped. Finally, after more than forty years, she was going to see _him_ again.

Raising a shaking hand to the door, she knocked once, and then knocked again. Slowly, the door creaked open, revealing a tall blond haired man in black robes. He smiled evilly.

"The Master has been expecting you, _Professor_ McGonagall," the man said mockingly. Minerva glared at him, green eyes flashing. She followed the man down the long dark hallway to a green door. The man knocked on it with his cane.

"Come in," said a cold, high-pitched voice from within the room. The man obediently opened the door, waiting for Minerva to enter before he did so himself.

The green room was dimly lit, black hangings covering the windows. It was decorated with various green lamps, all of which were unlit, and several green armchairs sat around the room in a circle. One of these armchairs sat facing the fire, its back to the arriving pair. Distinctly, she knew that he was sitting in that chair.

"Leave us, Lucius," the voice commanded. Lucius gave a bow, and exited the room. Minerva was now alone with him. The room was silent for what seemed a lifetime to the Hogwarts professor. After what was actually a couple of minutes, the voice spoke.

"So, you have decided to come to me." He phrased it as a statement rather than a question. Minerva remained silent, her eyes fixed on the back of the. Telepathically, she willed the chair to turn around, and reveal the boy she had once loved.

As if he had heard her, he turned the chair around. Minerva had to keep hard from gasping at the sight. He had changed. Eyes that used to be a lovely shade of turquoise were now a horrifying scarlet. His hair was gone, and his skin, though usually pale, was a now a sickly sort of gray. The man once known as Tom Riddle stared back at her, smirking.

"What, no kiss, Minerva?" he asked. "I thought you'd be pleased to see me after all these years, even if you were going to kill me."

"I'm not going to kill you, Tom," Minerva said quietly.

"Oh really? I thought that your precious Order would jump at a chance to kill me." He paused. "Or is this just a ploy to draw me out of the woodwork?"

Minerva scowled. "You think too much of me, Tom. I came here because I have a favor to ask.

Voldemort frowned. "Continue."

"After Albus's death, I came to a conclusion. Without Dumbledore, the Order will eventually crumble. Despite what Albus may have thought, his brother, Aberforth, is no leader. Yet, the Order does not see fit to appoint me their leader, despite how much I have sought to prove myself to them."

Voldemort frowned even more deeply. "What is it that you want from me sweet Minerva?"

Minerva smirked. "I want power. I want the power that rightfully should have been mine. I want the power that was promised to me years ago, both by Albus and by you." She paused for a moment. "I am now ready to accept it, Tom."

Silently, Voldemort stood up from his chair, walked over Minerva and embraced her. He leaned and whispered in her ear, "Welcome home, Minnie."

Minerva frowned, stepping a couple steps back. "Don't call me Minnie. You lost that right a while ago."

Voldemort smirked. "My love, you will always be the same girl I knew so long ago at Hogwarts. You will _always_ be my Minnie."

"Don't call me love either. You're only kidding yourself, Tom. Sociopaths like you are incapable of feeling love. I'm only in this for the power, and nothing else." Finishing her little rant, Minerva looked back at Voldemort, meeting his stony glare with a well-practiced one of her own.

He chuckled wryly. "Is that so? Well I think I say different." He quickly bounded across the little distance that separated the two of them. Forcefully, he grabbed Minerva by her forearms and kissed her fully on the lips. She struggled, but his grip was too strong. Eventually, she surrendered to the kiss, as memories from the past came rushing back to her. Memories of a time when she was younger, when she was more naïve about the world around her. A time when Tom Riddle had not yet fully become Lord Voldemort.

Gradually, she was jerked back to her present reality as a pair of snakelike hands worked themselves around her waist. Bringing her arms up, she forcefully pushed him away.

"Stop it," she said, "No more, Tom." This made Voldemort smirk, and he grabbed her wrist pulling him to her again.

"Tsk, tsk. I believe that you have no say in this, dear Minnie. After all, you wanted the power, didn't you?"

Minerva narrowed her eyes. "Let me go," she said through gritted teeth.

Voldemort's smirk grew even wider. "As you wish my dear." And with that he pushed down to the ground, drawing his wand in the process.

"Well my dear Minerva. I see that Mudblood-loving old fool really did change you. You say you want the power, but yet you're not willing to cross that final bridge to achieve it." He crouched down next to her, pointing his wand at her heart. "You're not the same girl that you were fifty years ago, Minerva. I can see that now." As he said these words, a strange look came over his face, a look that almost resembled longing. A longing for what could have been. The look didn't last long before it was replaced with one of cold malice.

"_Avada kedavra_!" With those words, Minerva slumped over sideways, her once alive green eyes now cold and dead. Voldemort gently brushed the side of her face with his finger, the look of longing back on his snakelike face.

"Goodbye Minerva. This was our point of no return."


End file.
